This book examines emerging defense technologies such as directed energy weapons, nanotech devices, and bioscience applications that have the potential to dominate international relations in the future, just as nuclear weapons and space infrastructure-assisted conventional weapons do now. Emerging Military Technologies: A Guide to the Issues examines the potential of the United States to bring new technologies to deployment in the service of America's security and defense. The work also discusses how other international actors may regard the United States' investment in these high-tech capabilities, identifying possible resultant counter actions, and presents several divergent viewpoints on what the future may bring. The book thoroughly explores three general categories of emerging technologies: autonomous computers, nanotechnology and biotechnology, and the interrelated topics of directed energy weapons and ubiquitous space access. Security studies expert Wilson W.S. Wong balances coverage of today's cutting-edge science and engineering with treatment of real-world concerns of effectiveness, military ethics, and international relations in the 21st century. An invaluable resource for members of the military and intelligence communities, this book also provides general readers with an accessible introduction to these highly technical topics.

This handbook examines the militarization of space, providing a fair and balanced discussion of the emerging issues concerning space security and defense. The militarization of space is already underway, with unpredictable consequences for the way war will be conducted in the future. Military Space Power: A Guide to the Issuesexamines the militarization of space from historical, technological, and geopolitical angles. It traces space militarization from concepts proposed before World War II through the use of space for military surveillance and communications purposes to the actual deployment of weapons that pass through high-altitude space, such as ballistic missiles and nuclear-armed interceptors. The book focuses on the main space pioneers like the United States, Russia, and China, but also includes discussion of potential future players. It looks at the state of current space technology, but also projects how recent inventions or new discoveries might be weaponized for the space environment. And it analyzes how the militarization of space might influence international relations. The result is a fair and balanced discussion of the emerging issues concerning space security and defense.